The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced the completion of four ADA-accessible stations coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The MTA marked the historic anniversary at an event at the newly upgraded Astoria Blvd subway station in Queens, where the installation of four elevators has recently been completed in addition to rebuilt elevated walkways, new benches, and finished platform stair enclosures. The MTA also announced the 86 St station in Brooklyn is set to become ADA accessible this week and the Bedford Av station in Brooklyn and 1 Av station in Manhattan are set to become ADA accessible in early August.

This latest package of elevator installation work at stations around the system comes amid a backdrop of significant financial uncertainty surrounding the MTA’s 2020-2024 Capital Plan. That plan included a historic, $5.2 billion commitment to expanding the number of accessible subway stations by more than 50% and ensuring that no customer would be more than two stations away from an accessible station. It remains on hold due to pandemic-induced budget shortfalls of an unprecedented magnitude. While celebrating progress on the Authority’s longstanding commitments to enhancing accessibility throughout the system, MTA officials urged the U.S. Senate to provide emergency funding.

About the Projects

Astoria Blvd Station
Work on the Astoria Blvd station, serving the lines and M60-SBS bus to LaGuardia Airport, began in June of 2018, with the station reopening last December after a nine-month closure. The completion of elevator work includes a pair of street-to-mezzanine elevators as well as two mezzanine-to-platform elevators. Additional accessibility features include new ADA platform boarding zones, rebuilt elevated walkways, new benches, finished platform stair enclosures, and eight rebuilt staircases — four from the street to the mezzanine and four from the mezzanine to the platforms.

Bedford Av and 1 Av Stations
As part of the broader Canarsie Tunnel Rehabilitation and Train Core Capacity Improvement project, workers made massive accessibility and circulation improvements for the 1 Av Station in Manhattan and Bedford Avenue Station in Brooklyn. Within the coming weeks, the 1 Av Station will be equipped with new street to platform elevators at the Avenue A entrances on both the north and south sides of 14th St. At Bedford Av Station, there are four newly constructed entrances and four existing stairs under rehabilitation. A new street to mezzanine elevator is being completed at the northeast corner of Bedford Avenue and N. 7th Street. The existing mezzanine at Bedford Avenue has been expanded to accommodate a new mezzanine to platform elevator.

86 St Station
The 86 St station under Fourth Avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, is being upgraded with two ADA compliant elevators, which will travel from the street to mezzanine, and from the mezzanine to the platform level.

The station also received new mosaic bands and artwork. To aid bus customers transferring to the elevator, the east side of Fourth Avenue was rebuilt to include a sidewalk bulb-out, providing seamless travel to the elevator, increasing passenger waiting space and eliminating the need for buses to pull out of and into traffic.

-via Press Release